Happy Birthday To You......

We had a fun birthday party last Sunday for 2 of my favorite men...and, as you can see, we had quite a bit of great cake to celebrate with that night. Ryan and my father have been fishing buddies since Ryan was just a little 6 or 7 year old. It has been a wonderful thing watching their relationship grow through the years. Happy Birthday Ryan and Dad!!! 

A beautiful scripture explanation from Robin Groff's website today...

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot;then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it" If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

-- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer

 

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart....

...and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths.....

Leslie and her friend Trisha at the Open House of the new Sacramento Temple yesterday....

The Big Day Arrives!!! (This past Monday)

6 years ago I was sent another little angel to love and care for...he has blessed my life more than any words I could ever write would express adequately. Still a "baby" to me, but looking much older each moment...he was anxious to get going that day and begin his new life as a Kindergarten Student. 

Sean (middle) right before he began to sob....

Poor little guy. He just started realizing what this whole school thing entailed I suppose - you know, leaving mom for half a day...EVERY day....and though I was a tad bit irritated, I was also happy to know that at least one of my children still feels like crying at the idea of being separated from me......sweet little boy! 

Character cannot be developed
in ease and quiet. Only through experience of
trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
ambition inspired, and success achieved.

-Helen Keller

Okay...So I'm obsessed with my Violets...!

  

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.

-- Lord Byron (1788-1824) English Poet

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

-- George Eliot (1819-1880) English Novelist

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.

-- T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American Poet

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.

-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright

My Sean...the champion swimmer....

Well...not yet...but maybe someday! Just knowing he's not afraid anymore is all that I care about!! Yay!

“A home without a grandmother is like an egg without salt.”

~Florence King

Great Quote for Today!

Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.

-- Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990)

Beautiful...(another photo not taken by me)...

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost. The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken: The crownless again shall be king.

~Quote from "Return of the King" by Tolkien

Sean was sooo excited to do fireworks tonight...

Tonight's neighborhood fireworks show...

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us
well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship, support any
friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival
and success of liberty."

~ John F Kennedy

Happy 4th of July!!!

America the Beautiful!!!

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,For amber waves of grain,For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhoodFrom sea to shining sea.

Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet,Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control,Thy liberty in law.

Oh, beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America!May God thy gold refine,Till all success be nobleness,And ev’ry gain divine.

Oh, beautiful for patriot dreamThat sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam,Undimmed by human tears!America! America! God shed his grace on thee,And crown thy good with brotherhoodFrom sea to shining sea.

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.

~John Wayne

who is THAT taking a late night swing from my lime tree???

Latest yard project...

....extending the "flagstone" (a.k.a. concrete) path across the yard.

Man has no nobler function than to defend the truth.

-- Ruth McKenney

 

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having FUN!

--Mary Lou Cook

Resolve to be Tender with the young,
Compassionate with the sick and the aged, Sympathetic of the poor,
Tolerant of the weak and the wrong.
At sometime in your life you
will have been all of these things.

More of the Heavenly Hydrangea....

 

Strawberry Fields....(yes, Forever!)

Amethyst Garden

Here's another little mystery.....

.....how the 105 degree temp can make magic like this happen....

How can anything so delicate-looking withstand this heat??

I received this hydrangea from a friend when i gave birth to Sean 6 years ago...and it was the most splendid shade of blue. Since then it has been producing pink flowers until this year...Royce put some rusty nails in the dirt and it's reverting back to blue! So amazing. It just needed some rust to become what it was meant to be....there's a lesson in there somewhere....

Those who, relying upon themselves only, not looking for assistance to anyone besides themselves, it is they who will reach the top-most height.

--Buddha

My Good Luck Charm...

Auntie Leslie got new glasses yesterday!

 

I hear that if you see a red dragonfly it's a sign of good luck to come...

I will let you know.

I love dragonflies for some reason...I remember being afraid of them as a kid, and I most certainly do not have a fondness for any other insects (except ladybugs and butterflies)...I just love dragonflies. Maybe the "good luck" was just the fact that I got a picture of this little guy before he took off. I'll hold out that financial gain will come flying into my life next..... 

My Grandma's Violets...

I had an odd day today in that I tried to remove all my music and photos from my hard drive and transfer it all to the new External Hard Drive that I just purchased. What a fiasco. I am not mentally equipped for such "simple" computer tasks. Now nothing works and I'm ready to pop a Valium. My family probably wishes that i would since they have to listen to me whine and worry and watch me pace the floor nervously. I knew I needed to think calm and relaxing thoughts...hence the photo of my Grandma's violets. I dug a couple of violet plants up from her yard when we sold her house after my grandparents passed away. I planted them in my yard and they grow wildly like groundcover which most people would find bothersome, but I find extremely comforting and desirable. Seeing them daily makes me feel like a kid again....now I can go back in time to a simpler day....one which didn't include External HardDrives and MP3 files. Help! 

I will make love my greatest weapon and none on who I call can defend
against its force....My love will melt all hearts liken to the sun
whose rays soften the coldest day.
-- Og Mandino

"Kites rise highest against
the wind -- not with it."

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
British prime minister during WWII

He's six years old now and totally ready to fight crime...

My Little Kids...all growing up....Sean is 6 years old tomorrow!